Seimei’s Noisey Mix Is an Ecstatic Echo of the Energy of Tokyo

There was a time at which the general focus of the label TREKKIE TRAX was condenseable into just a few words, but we’re far past that point now. Over the last half decade, the Japanese netizens have issued a veritable torrent of tracks across their web, most of it falling under the general umbrella of “electronic music,” but beyond that vague descriptor, they seem interested in just about anything. They’ve released sugar-rush EDM mutations alongside big U.S. labels, broken mutations of club music, delirious happy hardcore, voluminous big beat, proper house and techno bangers, borderline rap beats, and a nigh-uncountable number of other glittery buoyant forms—all under one roof raving. You pretty much never know what you’re going to get from a given release, except that it’s going to be ecstatic, which makes following along pretty fun.

At the project’s heart is a producer/DJ/A&R/general hustler by the name of Seimei, who’s been running the label with his brother Taimei (also known as Carpainter), Futatsuki, and a musician known as Andrew, since 2012. Seimei has said in interviews that he got into dance music as a teenager in part because of the legendary DJ Takkyu Ishino, whose grab-bag approach to the many microgenres of dance music ended up prefiguring TREKKIE TRAX own genre-agnosticism. Since then, he’s approached rave culture voraciously, filling his sets and productions with sounds from across the long tail of dance music’s history and boldly embracing its future.

You can see some vision of TREKKIE TRAX’s egalitarian approach on their recently released collection of remixes from Carpainter’s 2017 album Returning, the blissed rave-ups of Seimei’s cotton-candy flip of “Returning” lives right alongside the weightless abstractions of Foodman’s take on “Silver Glass,” no distinction drawn between them. On Seimei and co.’s dancefloor, every sound is welcome.

That’s also the uniting principle of Seimei’s new Noisey Mix, dipping and diving between dizzy house newcomers like Peggy Gou, blunted rap tracks, classic trance anthem, and a few choice cuts from the TREKKIE stable, generally hovering somewhere in the realm of beautifully blissed. You’ll want to check that out below, alongside a chat with Seimei about his history in dance music, and the future of TREKKIE TRAX in the global club music ecosystem.

Noisey: How are we meant to enjoy the mix? What's the perfect setting?
Seimei: You can enjoy my mix at any occasion, like chilling at your room, driving your car, or even commuting.

Is synesthesia a real thing and if so, what color is this mix?
Might be Deep Blue ,but it’s glittering like a neon sign.

Was there any specific concept to the mix?
Not like a huge concept but I put a lot of music from my label and Asia as I usually do.

Do you have a favorite moment on the mix?
I dropped Paul van Dyk’s Trance classic and I like that moment. I wanted to show my roots of music. I’m Japanese and I currently live in Tokyo but I was raised up in the Netherlands where Trance was so huge.

I’ve seen some interviews that you’d done, but I’ve never heard your personal journey into dance music—how did you first become fascinated with this stuff. Were you a club kid growing up?
I used to live in a small town near Amsterdam (Martin Garrix is from the same place) in mid 90’s to mid 00’s. So, for me, rave-ish Techno or Trance was normal thing as I listened to them on the local radio. Then after my family moved back to Japan in 2006, I was totally obsessed with the history of Japanese electronic music from Yellow Magic Orchestra to Ken Ishii or Denki Groove.

I was also into any kinds of house and techno music too. Ed Banger-type French electro-house was so popular in Tokyo when it was a worldwide movement. Also, about the bass music field, I could say Skream and Benga and so many artists from Mad Decent or Fool’s Gold brought me there.

Trekkie Trax has been around for a while now at this point, what’s the current state of the collective?
Masayoshi Iimori, Carpainter, and TREKKIE TRAX CREW (It’s my b2b project with other three co-founders) are considered as the core artists of TREKKIE TRAX but we have more label artists in everywhere even outside of Japan. I don’t have some specific goal but I always try to share our sound through Tokyo to rest of the world. It’s kinda tough to achieve this goal since we Japanese have a very distinctive culture (like Japanese people don’t really use English), but having my team as a label or collective is a good solution to proceed toward that goal. We always help each other.

I’m interested in the differing response you have in Japan versus elsewhere in the world—you told me the Carpainter record you put out was heavily embraced by Spotify Japan, but you don’t seem to get those mainstream nods here. Is your strain of club music really popular at home?
The Japanese music industry is so different from the West. For example, the Japanese music top chart still depends on the number of CDs [sold]. The chart ignores streaming and even the number of downloads. So, there are many artists who are well-known only in Japan or America.

I always try to break that wall between my country and other places but as an A&R of my DIY label, I sometimes need to focus on one side.

Each fan base of my label’s artists is different. Carpainter’s biggest fan base is in Japan and Europe but Masayoshi has bigger number of the listeners outside of Japan, he’s associated with the Japanese domestic hip-hop scene though. Spotify Japan has been launched just a few years ago and they are still striving within the Japan’s domestic music industry. I really appreciate they have been supporting us and even other underground musicians who have never been enough promoted due to their style.

What sorts of sounds are you drawn to as a listener, DJ, and producer. I’m sure you have lots of different interests, but are there any strands of music or even specific sounds that are closest to the rhythm of your heart?
The sound of TREKKIE TRAX is what I want to share. It’s a sound that you can image the scenery of Tokyo like Shibuya’s crossing streets when you hear it. I love this city because all of our good and bad memories are buried. And also historically Tokyo is so energetic. The city has been destroyed many times but always has revived. I love that energetic vibe and the music what I’d like to share sounds like that. It doesn’t matter the genre or style.

Seimei Noisey Mix tracklist:
1. Galaxy 2 Galaxy - A Moment In Time
2. Peggy Gou - Han Jan
3. Salva & Ashrock - LA Confidential
4. Murder He Wrote - Together
5. MOLDY - Airplane (feat. Sonia Calico)
6. Carpainter - Linkage [TREKKIE TRAX]
7. TSVI - Pull Up (Luru Remix)
8. Vices - B.P.A feat. JAVASCRIPT [TREKKIE TRAX]
9. DJ Bark Lee - Brighta Dayz
10. Carpainter - PAM!!! feat. Onjuicy (pìccolo Baile Edit)［TREKKIE TRAX］
11. Tommy Genesis - Tommy
12. Elle Teresa - Hello Kitty (feat. Yuskey Carter)
13. Bohan Phoenix - Overseas 海外 (prod. Ryan Hemsworth)
14. R3LL - Ride Dat (feat. Uniiqu3)
15. TREKKIE TRAX CREW - Thunder (R3LL Remix) ［TREKKIE TRAX］
16. Paul van Dyk - For an Angel (PvD E-Werk Club Mix)
17. Vindata – aboriginal
18. Miyabi. - Preasure Principle
19. Foodman - Oyaji Voice